Well, I have been driving 500+ hp mustangs over the last 8 years and decided I finally needed something good on gas. I knew it would need to have a small engine, but I didn't really want to compromise its fun factor. I ended up driving a few Minis at work and decided that would be the perfect car, but the prices were just too high for my second car so I started looking into salvage yards. I found a 2005 MCS that had been wrecked, but it fit my budget perfectly. So, I bought it, and have been in the process of fixing it over the last couple months in my free time. I have browsed this forum during that period and have found very helpful information about the car. Decided it was time to start posting and opening up a build thread.

 

Doesn't look too bad. Hard to tell from just one pic but appears to be about $6 or 7 thousand in damages.

Going to build it close to original or have some upgrades planned?

 

I wish I knew how to do something like that. I can't offer any help but, It will be fun to watch the progress. Good luck!

 

Yeah, I found some that were in much worse condition, but since I don't have a full shop just a home garage this one seemed easily doable. I was told it ran and drove, but when I went to pick it up I found out the engine had been pushed back almost to the firewall, all but one motor mount was busted, steering rack was snapped in half, and the transmission had a hole in it. So we worked out a deal with them getting my some parts. Still a longer project than I was hoping for.





I'm sure you could. Just have to start somewhere. First few times I try anything on a car it doesn't turn out perfect, but I learn. I've never fixed a car with physical damage until now, so this is a first.

I will make a build thread to show the progress. Car should be done in a couple weeks. I can't wait to drive it.

BTW, what forum do people post their build threads?

 

Looks like the passenger might need an aspirin.

 

Lol, yeah it looks as though the windshield was cracked by the passenger side airbag, and not a head. At least that's what I'm hoping.

 

Yikes, much more damage than the first photo showed. And with airbags deployment too? More like $10-12k in damages. Yep.... quite a project on your hands.

 

Surprisingly I have only put about $2600 in parts into it, and I should only have about $1200 more to be finished. The tires were bad and rims were bent (even though I was told they were all good), so that was an unexpected cost. I have a few trim pieces that I still need to paint, and then I am vinyl wrapping the entire silver area in a frozen gray matte.

 

Welcome, that does look like a project as I've built a few like that. FYI if you need parts we have 8 wrecked MINI's we are parting out.

 

That's good to know, thanks. I should have joined a few months ago as I have now found most of what I need, but there are a couple things I will still be buying. Do you happen to have any dash tops? A local salvage place has one for $280, but I've been looking to see if I can find one at a lower price.

 

wow, that's quite the project! good luck and keep us posted right here! build thread has started!!

 

Thanks, and in that case, I shall be uploading quite a few more pictures and info tomorrow.

 

Wow! I'm subscribed to this for updates. What a great project!

Chris

 

Came from High HP cars as well last one was a 2005 GTO with 580HP at the wheels

Honestly except for the lack of low end toque and seats not as comfortable as the GTO I have as much fun in my MCS as I did in the GTO

Speaking of seats looks like the past driver of your car did not make it
home with clean fruit of the looms that day

 

Lol, yeah I'm not sure what that was. I've shampooed the seats, and it cleaned them up some, but I am thinking I will eventually throw in some JCW seats or something.

I bet there are times you miss the GTO. Those are nice cars.

 

So, I guess I will go ahead and post progress pictures of the project.

As I stated originally, I bought the vehicle with the understanding that it was physically damaged, but that it still ran and drove around the lot. Turns out this was not the case. The engine was pushed back and 2 out of 3 motor mounts were destroyed. This caused the steering rack to break, coolant reservoir to crack, and sent the driver side axle into the transmission case. Needless to say it was going to need a lot of work to get it running. I was told I would be given all the parts to make it run since I was told that was the case. This has made the project much bigger than expected, and I am 4 months into it. Most of that time has been waiting on parts.

This is how it sat after I got it.





After the old hood was removed and fitted the new unfinished hood with a cone sitting in the damaged area lol.



Because the engine had been pushed back I had to remove it, put a new transmission on it, replace the bent subframe, replace the steering rack, and then drop the motor back in. You can see the bent frame in a couple of the following pics.



Intercooler off



Engine out



Here is the hole in the transmission case.



Tight work area. Tv for car shows



Figured while the engine was out I would upgrade the pulley. So on went an Alta 15% reduction pulley, new belt, and tensioner stop.



Driver side frame rail after I cut the bent frame horn/end off. Passenger side was not bent much and was straightened with a large hammer.



I cut the damaged area off, made a new piece with 16GA steel, and then welded it in place, followed by a new frame horn purchased from the dealership. Then covered with a couple coats of silver to prevent rust and match the rest of the car.











At this point I have the old windshield removed. Airbags have been swapped, and I have pulled most of the trim off because everything is getting gloss black paint, except for the area of the car that came painted silver. I have Frozen gray vinyl wrap that will be covering that area. Two wheels were bent and all tires needed to be replaced, so I am upgrading to 17s which will be black to match the car, and my black projector headlights should be delivered tomorrow along with an HID kit. Taillights have been tinted, and I have installed adjustable lower control arms in the rear because the factory ones were bent (I'm assuming from the salvage yards forklift).

There are a lot of things that haven't been photographed or mentioned, but this is already a ridiculously long post so I am going to leave it at this for now.